The Song of a lost Angel
by Baran3
Summary: This is the revision of my my story The song of an Angel. This is still a self insertion, but with no Marysue i hope and no replacement of main characters. I hope to introduce something new into the large reservoir of such stories. Wish me luck.
1. Prelude

**THE SONG OF A LOST ANGEL**

Disclaimer : I own nothing except the concept of the Guardians of Dimensions, 'Outerworld', Sakura, Iridia and Baran.

Note: This is an almost complete revision of my story "The Song of an Angel". I have finally caved in to the threats of my readers. Well, almost caved in. There will be no Mary-sue (I hope) or replacement of main characters in this story. However, it is still a self-insertion.

The concept of my first version was based on an amazing RPG game I played in a convention. My players had been sent to the world of Evangelion as themselves. In here I had the angels cast as real angels of Heaven sent for a premature Trial of Man. The players were all Children and gained the portfolio of the adversary they defeated.

Well, I have been challenged to write a story where a (almost) normal being found himself in Evangelion. Here is the story.

Oh, by the way, if some wishes that I continue the first story, I think I can. They just have to write reviews for that.

**PRELUDE**

I am Baran.

I am an adult male, a little overweight, with dark-brown hair and hazel eyes.

I am working in a hospital.

I am rather proud of my imagination.

I used it to send my RPG players into worlds of wonders.

I also used it to write some good stories on the net, in my humble opinion.

One concept that I used heavily is the concept of the Guardians of Dimensions.

This concept is based on sending my players as themselves with empowered new versions of their bodies into the world they like.

Any worlds selected from anime, books, films or others series is a legitimate target.

The players are sent into those worlds to rectify an imbalance, something that shouldn't be in this world.

They have normally unlimited powers, but the imbalance receive as many powers as they used.

So, much of the time, the players are reduced to counter the imbalance with the very basic powers they have in the beginning.

Sometimes, I even play the game as pure Survival Game, where the players have absolutely no special powers except those they developed, gained or learned during the play.

My game is the very concept of self-insertion taken in a RPG setting.

I am now sitting in front of my computer to write.

This story is a tribute to something, I hope, was the pure product of my imagination.

I really hope it was only my imagination with a bad case of indigestion.

My fingers are trembling as I remembered who it happened.

Read this as you want: Another tentative in the realm of the self-insertion… or something else...

Read the… No, read MY story when I was the twin of the third Children…

Read the story of Sakura Ikari…

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Thank you for your reviews and comments of the original story to Dartz-IRL, Kyoshin, HimOnky2012, Katyn 1, Asarganth and KihakukenJounin.


	2. HELP! I'm in the world of Evangelion!

**THE SONG OF A LOST ANGEL**

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the concept of the Guardians of Dimensions, 'Outerworld', Sakura, Iridia and Baran.

Notes: And here we go. I must confess that I am writing this without any true guide. I have a basic concept, but I have too many ideas, some borrowed from others writers, to really know where I am going.

I really hope you appreciate my efforts to supply your dreams.

**Chap 1: HELP! I'm in the world of Evangelion!**

My first memory in this adventure was a good one. Of course, it was always a good one in a dramatic series. The hero was in a sugary setting and then… BAM! He was thrown into a world of hurt and utter nightmares. 'He'…

How I wished I could have continue with that pronoun.

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OPENING THEME SONG

As the music began, we saw the image of the Archangel Lucifer appearing on a red starry background.

Then a representation of the Tree of Sephiroth followed.

The title burst into existence: "EVANGELION, the Song of a Lost Angel".

On a cloudy blue sky, the visage of Shinji Ikari appeared with his standard sad figure. In the background, we saw a black featureless silhouette of a schoolgirl with waist long hair.

The silhouette is then replaced by the scrolling of the dual black featureless nude silhouettes of Asuka Soryu Langley and Rei Ayanami.

Shinji then smiled and is replaced by another kabbalic representation with the visage of Misato Katsuragi. Her nude black featureless silhouette was also displayed.

Another close-in of Shinji passed as Misato is replaced with Rei behind a window.

Her blood-red eye blinked and is replaced by an intense green eye blinking.

We saw now the Entry Plug of EVA-01 with a tandem seat.

At the command, we saw Shinji in his standard blue Plug-suit and behind him, Sakura Ikari, a fourteen years old girl with waist long black hair and intense green eyes.

She is clad in a black emerald-trimmed Rei-style Plug-suit with a silvered A-10 nerve clip.

As EVA-01 powered up, close-in of main characters appeared in rapid succession: Gendo Ikari, Misato, Ritsuko Akagi and Rei.

EVA-01 made her six pairs of energy wings to appear.

Various close-in of the EVA followed in rapid succession. Some were rather gore, with blood or horrifying images.

We saw now a rapid succession of the enemy: The Angels with Rei on a full moon background.

It was now the turn of Tokyo-3 with the NERV personnel: Kouzou Fuyutsuki, Makoto Hyuga, Shigeru Aoba, Maya Ibuki, Ryoji Kaji and Ritsuko.

Then SEELE came: Gendo, Keel Lorenz and the embryo of Adam.

The EVA-00 and EVA-02 fought against the Angels on the screen as the determined visages of Asuka and Rei flashed.

Toji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida and Hikari Horaki appeared in rapid succession.

Various scenes taken from characters and fights in the series succeeded.

Finally, we saw Shinji and Sakura with their EVAs in the background: EVA-01 and a black white-trimmed EVA-03. The two Children, with closed eyes, were back to back with three pairs of energy wings bursting into existence from their backs.

Some close-in showed Shinji and his twin sister in separate images with their own version of a sad expression, intense rage and a big smile.

End of the opening song.

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I opened my eyes to a pastoral landscape. The music of my MP3 was sounding in my ears as I listened to "Engel" of "Rammstein". I felt good as I was lulled back into sleep by the regular motions of the van where I was sitting.

I reopened my eyes and blinked. Wait a minute…? A van…? Why was I in a van? I blinked again as the fog of my sleep was lifted up by a small jolt of adrenalin.

I looked around. Yes, I was in a van. I was also the only passenger with the driver, of course. I was sitting at the rear of the vehicle. I was also sure that my last memory was me in my bed and…

"What the hell…?" I stopped. My voice sounded very strange, as if I had inhaled a dose of helium. I raised my hand to my throat and the movement focused my attention on something on my chest.

I am sure that my eyes had grown to saucer size, like in an anime, as I stared down on a 'little' addition on my body: A nice small pair of…breasts.

I began to hyperventilate as I detailed my…new body. It was the body of …A GIRL! I stood up with a muffled shriek and became paralyzed as I stared at my reflection in the side-window.

I was a teenager… And a girl. I was perhaps 5 feet and 3 inches… And a girl. My hair was waist long and intense black with almost dark blue hints… And a girl. My widened almond-eyes were an intense shade of green, almost like the Mako eyes of Final Fantasy VII… And a girl. I have an Asian golden-tinged skin… And a girl. My previously disastrous teeth condition had been replaced by a perfect and complete white set… And a girl. My soft features reminded me of my imaginary avatar of Iridia that I used in some of my RPG… Did I mention that I was a girl?

I was clad in a schoolgirl outfit. I had a grey pleated skirt, a white shirt with a red ribbon tie. I had white calf socks and black leather exterior shoes.

I felt dizzy and sat down quickly, trying to calm my breathing. I closed my eyes and focused on the music blasting through my ear-buds to block everything. My eyes re-opened very quickly: The song was in German and I perfectly understood it…

You must understand that apart from my native French and a solid background in English, my language skills were limited to a very few notions of Spanish from school and some Japanese words and phrases due to my passion of anime.

"Ooookaaaayyy… I must be dreaming." I clamped my mouth. I had just whispered in perfect Japanese. I tried again. "What the hell!?" Yep, perfect idiomatic Japanese. I tried once again. "Je suis Français." Phew…! I could still speak my native tongue. I tried a few others and found that my skills had been…heavily expanded.

I was now thinking and speaking perfectly in English, Japanese, Spanish and German. I pinched myself and slumped back. I had felt the pain: I was not dreaming.

"All right! Don't panic…! Yet…" I took a cleansing breath and managed to calm myself…after an intense ten minutes of near-nervous breakdown and almost hysteria. I glanced on the seat next to me and raised an eyebrow.

There was a sport-sack, covered by a grey school vest, that seemed heavily filled and…a sword. I blinked. Yep, I wasn't hallucinating. In a standard protective cloth, there was a standard Katana on the seat.

I left the sword for now and searched the sack for any clues about me and where the hell I was. I gulped as the movements I did highlighted the differences between my original body and the current one. I had read many stories about people founding themselves in another body, but none could have prepared me to that experience. I wondered briefly how a transsexual lived the experience to acquire, surgically, the body of the opposite sex.

My sack was filled with clothes. Hum…, it seemed that apart my school uniforms, I was a tomboy or a practical girl: Mainly trousers, shorts and a few skirts, not one single dress but a kendo outfit. Hygienic supplies that were standard to any people wanting to maintain a good hygiene.

Ah! School books! My other eyebrow rejoined the first: Rather a little out of my league here with advanced physics and math, a few treaties on Philosophy, computer programming languages and… SCORE! An almost brand new portable computer in a foam protector!

I continued my search before opening a session. Various school supplies, spare CD-ROMs… Ooooh! A case with a classical flute and… Ah! A binder with many documents. I searched again, but there weren't any wallet or purse. Purse? I looked again at my new body and groaned. A banana-style pouch was waiting my attention at my waist.

I opened the pouch and smiled: A wallet. At last, I could learn who I was. I felt myself blushing as I found in the pouch some pads and tampons and… I was now blushing like a tomato as I held, incredulous, a…condom… There were also a small flask of perfume, a pocket mirror, a comb, a pen and some small others items.

I opened my wallet and almost screamed in utter horror and it wasn't because of my horrible ID photo. My name, or at least the name of my current body, didn't push me to explode in joy, rather the contrary.

I was…Sakura Ikari, born in 2001, the six June, and…daughter of Gendo Rokubungi and Yui Ikari. My hands trembled and I broke into a cold sweat. And then, it happened.

My eyes widened and I clamped my hands to my temples as an intense migraine seized me. One concept I used in my 'Outerworld', the setting background for my games about the Guardians of Dimensions, is the Phantom Memories.

Basically, it was a mixture of implanted memories, skills and others psychic impressions that a Guardian received when he entered a new world. It enabled him to properly function immediately and provided a basic background for his mission.

Unfortunately, there was also an emotional impact included in those Phantom Memories, in order for the Guardian to be completely inserted in the new world. What assailed me was best described as Phantom Memories.

FLASH

I was born a few minutes before my fraternal twin Shinji, I could see the love of my mother and the prideful smile of my father.

FLASH

I was four and I witnessed with my brother, the ill-fated experiment with EVA-01. I screamed and cried with him as we saw our mother being absorbed by the giant.

FLASH

I was eleven. I screamed and kicked as I struggled to escape the grasp of an adult. I was separated from my brother who was also trying to reach for me. I cried for our father to help us.

FLASH

I refused to eat any food in my adoptive family as I asked for my brother. The old bastard had sent me to England. The unknown couple didn't even try to help me recover emotionally. They quickly expedited me into a boarding school and forget about me since they had been already paid by my so-called father.

FLASH

I lived the live of a social recluse and a rebel in a highly disciplined and strict school. They tried to break me with privations, punishments and humiliations and I simply sunk deeper and deeper in myself. The school staff finally abandoned, isolated and ignored me.

FLASH

I began to escape the school regularly and lived outside as a social misfit. I tried many sub-cultures and was almost killed or raped on some occasions. Each time, the police found me and sent me back to school. The old bastard never tried even once to contact me.

FLASH

Perhaps a glimpse of hope as some persons contacted me and showed me recent pictures of my brother. I cried non-stop for a whole night on the photos and accept their proposition.

FLASH

The hope was revealed as a false one. Those persons were not interested in helping me, but in subverting me because of my mother. One little known fact was that Gendo Rokubungi married into the clan of his wife Yui Ikari and took her name. I had been contacted by the executors of the will of my mother. Apparently, I was the oldest of the Ikari bloodline and heir to everything the Ikari clan possessed.

FLASH

I discovered that my clan was old Samurai blood with a strong legacy. Yui didn't have time to show the heritage of her family to her children. I am showed that Gendo was simply using the resources of the clan without the right to it. My hatred of him finally exploded into existence and crystallized in my heart.

FLASH

I am secretly prepared and trained for the future. Lessons in martial arts and military skills sharpened and curved my rebel streak. I took upon myself to properly use the ancestral Daisho of the Ikari clan.

FLASH

I finally found for whom those people worked. Under the disguise of the Marduk Institute, they worked for an organisation named SEELE. I vowed to myself to use them as they used me and recovered my brother at all cost.

FLASH

We were in 2015 A.D. I was fourteen and I had just received the first letter from the old bastard in three years: "Come! Your brother is coming as well.-Gendo Ikari."

FLASH

I found myself sobbing like crazy on my seat. There were many others memories, but those few I remembered perfectly… It seemed that the emotional impact of those Phantom Memories was amplified by my relative young age. I managed to calm myself. God! I was the world of NEON GENESIS EVANGELION! HELP!

It took me perhaps half an hour to reboot my brain from the miasmas of terror. The situation was now clear: I was doomed. Passing the fact that I was in a setting used only during imaginary games or written in fictions, and also the fact that I was A GIRL, I was utterly doomed.

In my RPG games, my players had the means and the powers to make a difference. Even with my knowledge of the anime and the various fictions written about it, what could I do against SEELE, the Angels and the Supreme Bastard. I began to sob again. I had already tested if I was a Guardian of Dimensions and zero. Niet. Nada. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

The only small glimpse of hope was a similar expansion of all my current skills like the one I had already remarked about my languages. All my skills, even those of a true novice, had been boosted to a competent or very competent level. I stopped at this thought and blinked.

I had been sent into this world. It was a fact: I didn't die and found myself suddenly being reincarnated or something liked that…I hope. Something or someone had altered me in order to play a role in the tragic story of Evangelion. For the Guardians, it was an entity I had named 'Libra' that gave them their powers and asked that they rectified the various imbalances in countless dimensions. But here and now, who or what had sent me and why?

I frowned as I remembered that I was also already in the clutches of SEELE. No matter what, they certainly didn't have my best interest at heart in training me. I was probably a mean to control and certainly eliminate Gendo in the future if he proved to be a traitor. My eyes narrowed. SEELE would certainly send me partial information and carefully constructed lies in the future in order to steer me where they wanted.

I sighed. One thing was sure. I would not lie quietly and let myself transformed into LCL at the whim of those assholes. I will fight with all the weapons at my disposition…and tried to survive. I focused again on my material possessions and continued to examine them. The binder was full of documents…Really interesting documents.

I chuckled. Apparently, my father was no longer on the clan registry. The so-called executors of the will of my mother had declared him unfit to be the head of the clan after abandoning his children. And the irony: He was ignorant of this little fact… Yet. Of course, it was fishy. Japan was a patriarchal society and I was a woman. There was no way that a woman could be selected as the head of the Clan, even if Shinji was listed as the Patriarch-in-waiting until he was of age.

This was not so good. I risked to be bitten in the back at the worst moment in the future. The rest of the documents were photos of my dearest brother Shinji with his sad smile. Tears welled again in my green eyes as I lightly touched them. I blinked as I understood suddenly that this body, MY BODY, was truly the body of Sakura Ikari, twin sister of Shinji Ikari. I had Phantom Memories of her, but was I really this person… I sighed in frustration and continued to read the documents. There was the very succinct convocation of her father to Tokyo-3, a NERV ID card at my name and…

I blinked. Now, that was surprising. I held a postal card of Ritsuko Akagi. It was a good picture of the blonde woman, dressed in her standard lab coat and smiling to me. The card was welcoming me to Tokyo-3 and comported a list of precise instructions in order to reach the NERV Geo-Front. I was apparently in the last step to my destination.

Well, I supposed that the fact that I was a girl… I sighed again at that thought…instead of a young teenager male had influenced the choice of picture for the good doctor. And beside, she was no Misato. I smirked as I remembered the reaction of my brother in the anime to the sexy bombshell picture that he received.

I frowned. It will not be fun. I knew that this world had embarked on a course for total annihilation and with my luck I didn't fancy myself in an incest relation with Shinji to replenish the Earth. I groaned. I really didn't need to think about that, especially with my still masculine psyche. I narrowed my eyes as I considered what I knew about the facts and the conjectures of Evangelion. There were too many variables and Shinji or I were about to be sent into battle with the third Angel.

I needed an extremely solid plan. There was no way that I could solve the problems of this world without any allies and powers. I bit my lower lip, just to assure me with the pain and the blood on my tongue that I was really present in this nightmarish world.

No plan can survive the encounter of the enemy. I must remember that this world SEEMED like the anime of Evangelion. The best proof was my very presence and the probable hidden plot of SEELE for me. I couldn't count on only my knowledge of the anime to plan: It will be suicidal.

I sighed again and closed my eyes, letting my music soothed me. I shrugged. I would have to play by ear and count on my good star to protect me. I would had to have only general lines of conduct to prepare between two angels attacks and trust in my instinct in the thick of the battle. And I had to recruit allies or turned over enemies. I smirked. There were many hidden treasures in the mud of the anime… I was doomed. I nodded to myself.

I felt suddenly knots appearing in my stomach. Oh, great! What now? The hairs at the nape of my neck began to rise as if they were submitted to an electrical current. My eyes narrowed as something in my mind was screaming DANGER!

"OH, MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

My head whirled around at the shout of the driver. But I wasn't looking at him. I was staring at a giant creature on my right that was dominating the nearby forested hills. Oh, shit! Sachiel, the Angel of Water!

My eyes widened more as I witnessed the helicopters around him withdrawing at maximum speed. The N2 mine! I grabbed my possessions and dive on the floor between two seats in a tight ball. The outside world went white and the blast of the bomb caught the van like a toy. My world went dark.

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"Sakura."

I moaned in pain as my name was softly whispered to my ear. I managed to open my eyes and remark that I was glued on the ceiling of the van. I blinked the dust in my eyes and the perception changed.

Correction, I wasn't glued on the ceiling, the dislocated van was laying on its ceiling and I was merely sprawled on it. In the fog of my painful body, I remembered the soft voice and searched for it. I managed to focus through the broken window and gazed on the small girl with pale skin, short blue hair and red eyes.

WHAT!? My eyes widened as I stared at…nothing… Did I dream? I was almost sure that I saw Rei Ayanami outside the smashed vehicle. I thought that only Shinji had seen her before the attack of Sachiel… Oh, god! Sachiel! The attack! The N2 mine!

I winced as I took into consideration my wounds. I was lucky as it was only battered clothes, bruises and small cuts. Nothing was broken and I didn't even have a concussion. I found my sack, my vest and my sword near me. Very lucky indeed, even my MP3 was still playing.

Staggering on my feet, I extracted myself from the van with the help of my sword. I stopped briefly near the driver to only acknowledge his death. His chest had been crushed by the front panel, the wheel and the concrete pylon on the side of the road. Even the airbag hadn't been able to save him. I whispered a prayer for the rest of his soul.

Due to the shortage of the oil resources, most of the modern vehicles used a room-temperature superconductive battery: There wasn't any danger of explosion. I leaned against the van to regain my breath and my strength. I wasn't in a very good situation. I could follow the road but I didn't know at what distance I was from NERV. I could also forget about waiting for a car since everybody in the region had been evacuated.

I blinked at that thought. Yes? Everybody should have been evacuated due to the Angel. I narrowed my eyes as I looked to the vehicle. Why a van without any marks, with only me inside, had been permitted to circulate. I went back to the cadaver of the driver and hardened myself to what I must do.

Trying to not wince to his residual warmth, I began to search the body. Well, well, well! An automatic 9 mm with two clips and a false driver license since he had a hidden ID card with a different name for a Section 2 agent. I growled: The Supreme Bastard was already trying to ensure my unwilling cooperation.

I left all this, since I couldn't take them with me without alerting Gendo that something was wrong with me. Especially so early in his little scenario. Later, I could, perhaps, do something, but not now. One good thing was that my rage had muted my pain to dull sensation.

Rage? I blinked as I realized that it wasn't a mere rage. I was positively boiling over! I wanted nothing more than find that bastard and cut off his head and his dick. Not necessarily in that order. An approaching sound interrupted my dark fantasies about my so-called father and a few edged objects.

My eyes widened and a smile bloomed on my lips as I saw a very familiar but battered blue Renault Alpine. I waved like crazy to stop it.

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Misato and Shinji blinked in stereo to what they were seeing: A van was completely smashed on its roof on the side of the road and a young girl was waving to them.

Misato winced. "Damn! They must have been caught by the shockwave of the N2 mine." She smirked to Shinji. "Guess we're going to have a cute hitchhiker for a time."

The blushing young boy nodded but frowned as he discerned more and more of the black-haired girl. There was something strangely very familiar about her. He blinked as he suddenly remarked that she was holding…a sheathed katana.

Misato stopped her car and opened her door. "Hi! Are you all right?"

Sakura smiled with relief. "Yes, thank you. I am merely bruised. Nothing is broken." She turned to the van and her smile slipped. "I'm afraid that the driver didn't make it although." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I am currently en route to NERV headquarters. Can you escort me there? I have a map."

Misato blinked. "Huh? NERV?" She looked closely to the slightly blooded visage and did a double-take. "I'll be… Are you Sakura Ikari?" She remembered the others photos in the file on Shinji.

The black-haired girl smiled. "You know about me? That's a relief! Yes, I am…" She trailed off as her green eyes widened as she stared at the young boy exiting the car.

Shinji looked to the young girl with confusion. Sakura Ikari? It couldn't be her. She was dead. He blinked as he saw her letting go of the sword and the sport-sack. The intense green eyes were staring at him and she visibly paled. Wait a minute… Green eyes!? Long black hair!? And those features!?

Sakura was trembling. She couldn't control herself as she gazed on her long-lost twin brother. Her emotions were wreaking havoc in her core-being. She could see the confusion in his blue eyes being replaced by incredulity. She heard him whispering her name like he didn't believe it. "Sakura?"

She raised a shaking hand. "Shinji."

Blue eyes widened as incredulity changed into utter wonderment. "SAKURA?!"

"SHINJI!" She threw herself into the arms of the young boy and fiercely hugged him.

Misato could only stare and blink at the scene as the girl had almost tackled her charge and was now sobbing in his neck. She knew that Shinji had a sister and she knew that she was coming here by a different way because she came straight from a boarding school in England. There was something fishy here. There was too much tears for a simple encounter between the two siblings, even after a long separation. She raised an eyebrow as she remarked that Shinji was also crying in the mutual embrace.

Sakura relaxed her hug and gazed into wet blue eyes. Her intense green eyes were also shedding happy tears. "Oh, God! I have almost lost hope! Shinji! At last, I found you. I found you!" Before the masculine soul inside the feminine body could control herself…or himself, Sakura kissed Shinji…on the forehead.

Shinji's heart was hammering in his chest. He was experiencing something extremely rare for him: A moment of pure, untainted, joy. "Sakura. It's you. It's really you! But…how? I thought you were dead."

Sakura stiffened at that and looked incredulously at Shinji with widened eyes. "What?" The eyes narrowed and Shinji could have sworn that they shone for a brief instant. "That…That bastard told you that I WAS DEAD!?" She let go of her brother and whirled around. Her fists tightened and her voice hissed with such venom that Misato shuddered. "He dare to… I will kill him… I WILL KILL HIM!" She slumped on her knees and began to sob in her hands.

Dismayed and still unsure that she was really alive and in front of him, Shinji reached for the shoulder of his sister. "I don't understand, Sakura?"

Between her sobs, the green-eyed teenager tried to explain. "I…I was cut off any contacts with you… I tried everything to, at least, send you a word… My letters, phone calls and even the Emails were all stopped, intercepted or simply returned with the mention "No Name at this address"… when I could find an address… And…And now…I learned that this ASSHOLE had told you…that…that I was…dead…" She whirled around again to sob into the chest of her twin.

Shinji slumped at her side. He felt like he had received a physical blow to the head. He remembered the day he learnt of her so-called death. It didn't even have been his father who spoke or wrote to him. No, it was his guardian who had told him that his father had told him that his sister was dead in a tragic plane accident.

Misato Katsuragi looked, very worried and horrified, at the two teenagers crying on another crushed hope by the hand of their very father.

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Later, on the road to NERV, Misato was demonstrating how to drive a broken car at top speed and making a phone call at the same time.

On the rear seat of the car, Shinji was using tissues and water to clean her sister of her blood. A small first-aid kit, extracted from the sport-sack of the black-haired girl, was open and Sakura was guiding her brother in treating her bruises and cuts.

Misato smiled as she looked at the siblings through her rear-mirror and continued her call. "Sure. Don't worry. They are under my protection at top priority… Prepare a car train for us. A linear one, please… Yes. I'll bear the full responsibility for them… I remind you that it was my idea to meet him in the first place... Yes, she was lucky. Bye."

However, if Misato was smiling on the outside, she was less mirthful on the inside. _'But it's terrible! I've just restored my car... It is a jalopy now...33 loan repayments to go ... and the repair costs...What was even worse, my only good clothes have been ruined...'_

Shinji tried to speak to the NERV Captain. "Misato..."

But the young woman was too deep in her sorrowful thoughts. _'I was such in high spirits. My goodness...'_

Sakura blinked and tried herself. "Hello? Miss Katsuragi…"

Misato finally turned to the teenagers. "Eh, what did you two say?"

"Is it really OK that you did such a thing...?" Sakura was pointing the batteries for the electric car which Misato seemed to have...'borrowed' according to her brother.

Misato waved away the problem. "Ah, It's OK. No problem. It is during an emergency... We can't do anything if the car doesn't run. In the addition, I am an international officer even if I don't seem like it. And please, call me Misato." She smirked. "After all, your cute brother is doing it."

Sakura smiled. They had been forced to put their sacks on the front passenger seat because of the bulk of the batteries. "As you wish, Misato. I was simply worried that you could be held responsible for the…'borrowing'."

Shinji shrugged. "Well, she said she is an international officer and we are during an emergency."

Sakura nodded. "Oh, I'm no longer worried. After all, she just had to put her card with her name and rank with the owners to be covered by the law."

Shinji began to nod with his twin and then blinked twice. He turned to Misato. "But…then why didn't you do it, Misato?"

Misato opened her mouth to respond and drew a blank. Her smile slowly disappeared and her eyes widened as she remembered that she had forgotten this 'little detail' and then she thought about the possible repercussions.

"WOAAAH!! MISATO! DON'T LET GO OF THE WHEEL! AND FOR GOD SAKE! STOP HITTING YOUR HEAD ON IT!"

The blue Renault Alpine slalomed roughly on the road as adult feminine screams of frustration escaped from it, mixed with prayers and repeated demands to keep the eyes on the road from two frightened teenagers.

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Misato, Shinji and Sakura were waiting for a car train to depart from the station on the outside of NERV headquarters. The speaker sounded. "The gate is closing. Attention, please. The train is about to depart. This train ..."

Shinji leaned to Misato from the rear seat. "So, we're going to the heart of the special agency NERV?"

Misato nodded. "Yes, the secret organization directly attached to the United Nations."

"It's the one which my father belongs to." Sporting many band-aids on her, Sakura's voice was bitter. She didn't have to force herself to play the role of the daughter of Rokubungi: Gendo had always been the Supreme Bastard to her when 'he' watched the anime. Being able to stop herself to cut off his head should be more difficult.

Misato turned to the fraternal twins. "Yeah, well. Do you know what he does?"

Shinji snorted and turned away. He was still very angry about the lies of his father. "I heard from my guardian that it's an important job for protecting the human race."

Sakura snorted as well. "Humph! Knowing him, he is probably just looming around, looking very important and preventing all the others to do the right job because he needs printed instructions to put on his pants."

The phrase had begun on a flat tone and finished in a snarl. Misato looked bewildered on her two charges. The brother and the sister had similar expressions of contained rage. Oh boy! They really had some issues with the Commander.

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Sakura and Shinji were still silent after the little explosion of their hatred. The young boy tried again. Something about all this, especially with the succinct message of his father was not right. He had been utterly dismayed when his sister showed him her message with him as bait. "So, are we going to where our father is?"

Misato closed her pocket-mirror. "Well. Yes, we are."

Shinji frowned. "Father..." He felt the supporting hand of the green-eyed girl on his shoulder. Something he had believed lost forever. He remembered the traumatic scene of the forced separation between him and his twin. Could he do it? Could he give his father another chance?

The same thoughts were floating in the mind of Sakura. The masculine soul was also feeling worried. The day had been a succession of shocks. She wasn't being enjoyed on her eventual descent, when she could truly reflect on what happened so far. In fact, she was due a nervous breakdown. The emotions and memories of the original Sakura Ikari were also playing with her integrity. Even with her knowledge of the anime, he was still her father and she knew that his love for his wife was blinding him. The question about 'his' reality and the reality of the body 'he' currently inhabited was deeply worrying him.

The cheerful voice of Misato interrupted their musing. "By the way, were you given an ID by your father?"

Shinji blinked and searched in his bag. "Oh, yes. Here it is."

Sakura merely opened her waist-pouch and extracted the letter of her father with the NERV ID card.

"Thanks!" Misato left up one eyebrow on the rather short message of Gendo for his children and the fact that both messages had been shredded then repaired with an adhesive band. "Then, read this." She gave them a thick manual with the mention 'Top Secret' and 'Welcome to Nerv' on the cover. "I have only one so you'll have to read it together until I receive another one.

Sakura shrugged and began to read above the shoulder of her brother. Shinji was thoughtful. '_It's about my father's work..._' He turned to Misato. "Is there anything in it for me to know what he wants from me and my sister?" He sighed when the young woman didn't answer. "I can't say I'm really surprised. He lied to me… He can't write to me ... unless he wants me to do something."

His sister softly continued. "Or us."

Misato acquiesced. "I know. You consider him to be quite rude. Me too."

The twins blinked to her and Sakura smiled. "Well, one point for you."

Suddenly, the train car emerged from its shaft and an underground city with buildings hanging from the ceiling of the round giant cavern appeared

Shinji was awed by the sight. "Incredible! It's a real geofront!"

Sakura remembered the anime, but frankly it wasn't worthy of the real thing. "Holy shit!" The impression of gigantism was notably absent in the Gainax production.

Misato smiled to the enthusiasm of the teenagers. "That's right. This is our secret base, NERV Headquarters. It's also the foundation for rebuilding the world and the last line of defence for the human race."

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EYECATCHES

Shinji and Sakura are kneeling _seiza_ within a dojo. They are both clad in a kendo outfit. They are gracefully donning the protective armour of a kendoka. First, the _tare_ or hip and groin protector, then the _doh_ or body protector. They both tie the piece of cloth that protects their head from the helmet. They don the _men_ or helmet and finally don the _kote_ or hand and forearm protectors.

EYECATCHES

Misato and Sakura are kneeling _seiza_ within a dojo. They are both clad in a kendo outfit. Sakura is gracefully donning the protective armour of a kendoka. First, the _tare_ or hip and groin protector, then the _doh_ or body protector. She expertly ties the piece of cloth that protects the head from the helmet. She dons the _men_ or helmet and finally dons the _kote_ or hand and forearm protectors. She looks to Misato before taking the _shinai_ or bamboo sword and sweat-drop as she realizes that the young woman is sleeping and snoring.

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Misato was scratching her head. "Strange. I'm sure that we are on the right path." The trio were on a moving pavement in the giant internal structure of NERV headquarters. Misato was desperately consulting a map. Looking around the shoulder of the lady officer, Sakura could only read the handwritten mention 'HERE' and 'WC' among the daedal-like drawing.

Now, the young girl was really sceptical about the NERV officer. "You said that, fifteen minutes ago." She sighed. '_All that time lost…_'

The door opened and air rushed to their faces. "I'd really rather not wear a skirt this place. Anyway, where has Ritsuko gone? Sorry that I'm not familiar with this place."

She was right about it. The first time that an automatic hatch had opened, the pleated skirt of Sakura had been blown away, revealing her panties and making her shriek 'cutely' according to Misato. Of course, her brother had caught a glimpse of the underwear and was still blushing now.

Shinji was still reading the NERV manual to mask his embarrassment. "We already passed here some time ago."

Sakura lifted her arms to the Heavens. "Marvellous!" She turned to Misato. "Shouldn't you call somebody to help us?"

Misato looked nonplussed and then faked a smile. "Ah, don't worry. All systems exist to be used."

They were doomed, yes! To her current title of 'the eternally drunk girl', Misato could take now the title of 'the eternally lost girl'. The 'formally-male-now-turned-young-girl' was no better, she always remembered when she managed to loose herself and her section during her military service with map and compass… And, of course, her expanded skills seemed to be…lacking in this specific area. Sighing, Sakura tried to occupy herself by reading the manual of her brother while they waited for their rescue by Ritsuko.

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As Misato tried valiantly to find the way for her and her charges, the door of the elevator they have taken open revealing the irritated Ritsuko Akagi. The doctor was clad in a swimsuit with a lab blouse.

The dark purple-haired woman winced. "Uhhm. Ha...Hi, Ritsuko..." Misato was dismayed. Her friend had found them before they found her.

The green-eyed doctor sighed. "What did you do, Captain Katsuragi? We are short of hands and time!"

Misato giggled and bowed. "Sorry..."

Ritsuko sighed again and turned to the teenagers. "So, they are those twins."

Misato nodded and pointed to Shinji then Sakura. "Yes, 'the Third Children' and 'the Fourth Children' according to Marduck's report."

The blonde woman bowed to them. "Nice to meet you two."

The long black-haired girl smiled. "The pleasure is for us madam." Sakura bowed, imitated with a small gap by her brother. "Ah...How shall we call you?"

"Dr Akagi or Ritsuko will be enough, Sakura-Chan, Shinji-kun." She turned to Misato. "They are polite, them."

Misato shrugged. "Yes, but they are very much like their father…in that they aren't lovable."

Sakura leaned onto the shoulder of her twin with a mock-scowl. "Why, Misato, I'm disappointed." She feigned dismay and stage-whispered to Shinji. "Fifteen minutes ago, she called us 'cute' and now she is comparing us to our father. Oh, woe is us to have such an ungrateful captain."

Ritsuko chuckled and Misato frowned. "HEY!"

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Shinji, Sakura, Misato and Ritsuko were coming up on a diagonal lift with a pink background generated by the light passing through giant reservoirs of violet-pink liquid. A message sounded on the speakers. "Repeat, Red alert! All hands to battle stations! Prepare for the interception of the enemies on the ground."

Misato couldn't believe what she heard. The situation was dire indeed. "Did you hear what she said?"

Ritsuko was conserving her serious attitude. "That's serious."

Misato thought about the tactical situation and what they had in reserve. "By the way, how is Unit One?"

That was the question that worried Sakura. She was apparently still reading the manual along with her brother. In fact, she was preparing herself for the confrontation with her father and EVA-01.

Ritsuko shrugged. "It is equipped with B type. It is being frozen."

Misato raised an eyebrow. "Does it really work? I heard that it has never worked yet."

"The possibility of it working is 0.000000001. O9-system seems a good name for it."

For the young displaced girl, it was a good thing. The number nine is a lucky one for the Chinese. She and her brother were going to need this luck. She managed to not shudder as she remarked aside the giant hand in the pink liquid behind them.

Misato smirked. "You mean it won't work, don't you?"

Ritsuko took the bait. "Oh, how rude you are! It isn't zero."

The NERV Captain shrugged. "It's only a number. Anyway, to say 'It doesn't work at all'...will be no excuse."

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Sakura has always thought that going to the EVA cage with a motorized dinghy on the pink coolant liquid was a little exaggerated. They really should have take example on the old Thunderbirds series and installed a cool chute system. She smiled internally: It would have been 'in genre'.

The group penetrated in a room with only a line of light coming through the entrance and then a sudden blackout.

Shinji felt a little apprehension. "Uh, hum, I can't see anything. It's pitch dark in here."

Sakura turned to where she knew Ritsuko was. "Is there a problem with the lights?"

As suddenly as before, Ritsuko turned on the lights. The big face of Evangelion Unit 01 appeared before the fraternal twins and startled them.

Shinji blinked. "What the…Ah! This face...a gigantic robot..." He began to search in his manual for the reference about this…thing.

Sakura was still looking at EVA-01 with widened intense green eyes.

Ritsuko looked to the young boy. "You can't find this in the manual…" She frowned as she considered the young girl. "Sakura?"

The young girl was petrified. Her Phantom memories were wrecking her inside. She let go her sword on the ground. Misato had permitted her to bring the sword secured in its cloth protector since it was an ancestral sword and she carried a legit license for it. The sound of metal was reverberating strongly in the gigantic room.

Sakura was visibly paling. Correction, she was almost white as chalk. "No… no… no… nonononono…"

Ritsuko blinked. Why Sakura was so rattled by the unit. "This is the Multi-purpose Humanoid Fighting Machine EVANGELION which the humanity finally developed."

Shinji turned to his sister. "Sakura? What is it? Why are you afraid?"

She turned a haunted gaze to her twin. She couldn't speak about it now! He wasn't ready! Why? Oh, why this body was able to remember the traumatic event ten years ago?! She closed her eyes and took a cleansing breath, managing to slow down the hammering of her heart. "I…I'm not sure…"

The blue-eyed boy blinked. She wasn't lying, but she wasn't telling him all she knew. He turned back to the gigantic machine. "Is it also Father's work?"

Gendo Ikari appeared in a glassed bay at the top of the room, above the EVA. "Yes."

Children and father looked at each other. The distance was not an obstacle. The intense green eyes of Sakura and the incredulous blue eyes of Shinji clashed with the deep black eyes of Gendo.

"It's been a long time." The face of Gendo was a mask.

Shinji was dismayed. "Father ..." Already his doubts, muted until now by the presence of his sister, returned in full strength.

Gendo smirked as his son turned away from him. He then frowned as Sakura was far from being beaten and continued to gaze at him. His monitors were showing the hatred that was almost shining in the green eyes. He internally shrugged. His daughter had always been a rebel and his plans took that in consideration. "Prepare for battle."

Misato, flabbergasted, looked to her commander. "Prepare?! Unit Zero is being frozen..." She gasped and turned to EVA-01. "No kidding ... Do you mean that you'll activate Unit One?"

Ritsuko turned grimly to the captain. "We have no other choice."

Misato shook her head. "Hey! We can't have Rei get it on. We have no pilots."

Ritsuko didn't even look at the children. "Two have been just delivered by yourself."

Misato narrowed her brown eyes. "Are you serious?"

The blonde doctor turned to the teenagers. "Ikari Shinji-Kun, Ikari Sakura-Chan."

'_And here we go!_' Sakura gazed into the serious green eyes. Shinji was confused by the situation. "Yes?"

Akagi launched her bomb. "One of you will get into it."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, but Shinji gasped in dismay and turned a frightened look to her. '_He fears for me._' The thought was chilling and she glanced to the bay. '_The bastard can manipulate him through that!_'

Misato tried again. "But, even in the case of Rei, it took seven full months for her to synchronize with Eva. They can't do it!"

Ritsuko continued what she felt was necessary. "You may dispose... We'd never expect more from you."

Misato shook her head. "But ..."

Ritsuko interrupted her. "At present, the interception against Angel's attack is top priority. We have no choice but to have someone get into it even if there is a little potential for synchronizing with Eva."

Misato was clearly dismayed, but she was military. "You may be right..."

Shinji had enough about all this. "Father! Is this why you call us? Why you separate us?"

Gendo stayed supremely arrogant above his children. "This is exactly the reason why I call you. The reasons behind your separation are my own."

Shinji tightened his fist. "Do you mean that you need one of us to climb aboard this and fight against the giant monster which I seen."

Sakura darkly chuckled and entered the confrontation. "Unbelievable! You are saying that you need us now?! We have known for a long time that you don't want us! Even before your little stunt." Sarcasm was dripping from the words.

Gendo remained unfazed. "I called you two just because I need you two now."

Sakura could see the unshed tears in the blue eyes of his brother and caught his hand. She cocked her head to Gendo after a reassuring smile to Shinji. "Interesting… Why us specifically ...?"

"Because others can't ..." Here, Gendo was expressing a fact.

The voice of Shinji was wavering. "Even if we've neither seen it nor heard of it? Why are you saying that we can do it without training?"

"Hear the explanations."

Sakura looked up to her father, incredulous. "That it!? Hear the explanations!? No preparation! I am not a pessimist but it seems that our chances of success are rather feeble."

Shinji was shaking his head. "It's absurd! Sakura is right. We can't do it!"

The orange-tinted glasses of Gendo reflected only the defiant visage of his daughter and the weary face of his son. "If one of you get into it, stop wasting time. Otherwise, both of you get out!"

Shinji's eyes widened as he heard the confirmation that he and his sister were nothing but tools for their father. As Misato and Ritsuko, they said nothing but waited for their answers, Sakura remarked the presence of many maintenance men looking at the scenery anxiously.

Then the same sensation of danger than in the van washed over her. Her eyes widened. Her body reacted instinctively and she kicked her sword in her hand and turned to the left part of the ceiling in a defensive stance before she realized what she was doing. '_Oh, SHIT!_'

Above the geofront, the angel was attacking the ground with the energy beam from his eyes in order to reach the Nerv Headquarters. The explosion provoked vibrations to the underground structure.

Gendo was looking in the same direction as his daughter. "The angel seems to have found this place." The fact that Sakura had sensed the attack before they felt its effects was duly noted.

Ritsuko turned to the young children. "Shinji-Kun, Sakura-Chan, we have no time."

Shinji tightened his jaw and turned to his probable only ally in the gigantic room apart his sister.

Misato looked grimly to the young boy she had started to befriend. "Get into it."

Shinji gasped in dismay and Sakura seized the opportunity. "STOP! BREAK-TIME!" She turned to the NERV officer. "Okay! All right! I know a crisis situation when I see one." Shinji was worried. He hoped she wouldn't volunteer for that! He didn't come for that! "What are the consequences if none of us climb aboard this robot and fight the creature?"

Misato didn't hesitate. "Our complete destruction."

Sakura looked incredulous to her. "And you couldn't start by that?" She sighed and looked into the still dismayed blue eyes of her twin. She could read that he was ready to volunteer just to spare her. The old bastard was probably gloating above them. "All right… But if you expect us to become hot-shot Mecha aces in an instant, you're going to be disappointed. It's ridiculous. We need help!"

Now that was a good idea in Misato's book. "Sakura-Chan... What sort of help do you want?"

Shinji whirled to her. She stared fiercely into his determined and angry eyes. "I am not abandoning you." She turned to Ritsuko. "Tell us, this…EVA…? Can it be piloted in tandem?"

Ritsuko actually blinked as she was surprised. "In tandem?" Now, that was an idea. With one pilot, the harmonics must be almost perfectly adjusted. With two pilots in the same Entry Plug, the values had more leeway. "It's…possible"

Sakura smiled in relief and spoke softly to her fraternal twin. "Only if you accept me by your side, brother."

Shinji sighed and closed his eyes. He knew his father. He would continue to push them to do his biding through any means in his possession. He silently and sullenly nodded his accord.

Sakura grinned. "One more thing, doctor Akagi. I heard Misato talking about another pilot, this 'Rei'. Could you call her, please, I think that her advice will be extremely useful to us."

It was not what Gendo has planned for but it will do. He turned to a wall of screens. "Fuyutsuki!"

Fuyutsuki appeared on a screen among the multitude of a sullen Shinji and a grim Sakura.

Gendo addressed his second. "Wake up Rei."

Kouzou raised an eyebrow. "She is not out of the hospital!"

Gendo shrugged. "She is still alive, that enough."

Fuyutsuki sighed. "All right." He turned to another monitor and called another part of the base.

Gendo spoke to an invisible interlocutor. "Rei?"

A flat and feminine voice responded. "Yes."

"The spares turned out to be in need of your experience." His voice was devoid of emotion. "Will you do it again?"

"Yes."

Ritsuko took the initiative, she was relieved. "All right, we continue to reconfigure the system of Unit One for Shinji and Sakura! Start!

"Yes sir. The current process is already complete at 68 and increasing."

Sakura sighed internally in relief. It was better than what she had been expecting from Gendo and what she knew from the anime. Shinji wasn't beating himself for feeling useless and Gendo had not broken in the threats against them. She frowned. It was good, because she didn't think capable to control herself if the old bastard tried to separate them again.

Shinji took again the hand of his sister. For one moment, he had believed that she would have followed the orders of their father and piloted this thing, letting him alone and useless again.

The twins turned to the door as a hospital gurney rolled in with a team of doctors and nurses. On it, a pale girl of their own age with light blue hair and red eyes was laying. Bandages covered the right side of her face and her right arm. An IV feed was on the left arm. She was clad in a white sleeveless skin-tight suit.

Shinji blinked in dismay. The pilot was also a young girl? And she was wounded?

Sakura was unprepared for the assault of strong emotions as her intense green eyes locked with the one crimson: fear, love, sorrow and anger. She whirled to her father. "YOU COULD HAVE TOLD US THAT SHE WAS WOUNDED! We would have made the displacement."

Still holding the hand of her brother, she walked briskly to the gurney before Rei made any movement. "Don't move please, you're hurt! We just wanted advice on the piloting of EVA." Anger rang in her voice. "They had no right to treat you like this!"

Shinji was of the same advice. He was also slightly blushing as he considered the skin-tight nature of her suit.

The crimson eye blinked but before any questions were posed and answered, the angel outside attacked again.

The shockwave would have throw Rei on the floor should both Sakura AND Shinji had not stabilized the gurney. Sakura had been bewildered by the reflexes of her twin, but chalked it to the probable genetic link between them and the artificial Nephilim. "Damn it! Watch out, Shinji! We don't want to open her wounds by jostling her around."

The voice of Misato suddenly sounded. "LOOK OUT!"

Right on the location of the trio of children, heavy metallic light-ramps fell from the ceiling. Sakura left her instincts guided her. She grabbed Shinji, threw him above Rei and covered their bodies with hers. '_What am I doing? I must be nut!_' Even with her knowledge of the anime, she braced for the impact and prayed for a miracle.

The EVA-01 answered the prayer. On her own, the powerful war-machine protected Shinji, Sakura and incidentally Rei with her right hand. Gendo smiled as a ramp crashed without effect on his reinforced window.

Shinji opened his eyes and blinked to his worried sister's eyes above him. "Ah!?"

The technicians of the cage were bewildered.

"EVA moved! What was the matter with it?!"

"It tore off the binding attached to the right arm."

Ritsuko was freaking from the reaction of EVA-01. "It's impossible! Even the Entry Plug has never been inserted yet. It can't move!"

Misato, still awed by what happened looked to the young boy and his sister. "It reacts without the interface... Or rather, did it protect them…?" She smiled. "They can do it!"

Shinji turned to Rei and blanched. The pale blue-haired girl was visibly shaking with extreme pain. "Oh, no. Sakura!"

Sakura's eyes widened in dismay and she gingerly held the hand of the suffering First Children. Already blood was seeping through her bandages and staining the hands of the twins.

Shinji closed his eyes and tried to recompose himself. '_I mustn't run away… I mustn't run away… I mustn't run away…_' He looked into the angry green eyes of Sakura and they nodded to each other. He turned to Ritsuko and Misato. "All right! Let's do it! Get us into it now!"

Sakura turned her head to the ceiling. "He is going to pay. I swear he is going to pay and with interests!" She felt determined and angry. There was no turning back now.

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As the cooling liquid was evacuated from the EVA cage, in the command centre, the NERV staff was diligently pursuing the operation against the angel.

"Freezing Process has finished."

"The binding of the right arm has been fixed again."

"Position setting for docking in the cage is OK."

Under the gaze of Ritsuko and Misato, Maya Ibuki read her monitor. "The stop signal plug has been discharged."

"Yes Sir. Insert the Entry Plug."

A white cylinder was inserted in the back of the EVA.

Maya smiled as her monitor flashed all green. "The plug has been fixed." She launched the next program. "Begin the first connection."

Shinji and Sakura, still in their school uniform, sat inside the Entry Plug. Shinji, with a white A10 nerve clip, was sitting in the main seat with his hands on the butterfly handles. Sakura was sitting on the right, in a small side-seat that had been visibly a kit-bashed bolted-on addition. She had refused to be separated from her sword and had managed to clamp it at the back of her seat. A silvered A10 nerve clip was placed neatly in her black hair arranged now into a high ponytail. They were waiting patiently.

Ritsuko supervised the operation. "Commence LCL injection into entry plug."

With an alarm not faked, Sakura and Shinji reacted to the injection of the liquid. "What the hell?!" "Hmm? Hey! What is this?" "Glurg! Bloups!" "Ah, ah, ah, Uguh…"

Ritsuko leaned on the com-unit. "Don't worry. After your lungs fill with LCL, it'll directly supply you two with oxygen. You'll get used to it soon."

Sakura let the blood of Lilith filled her lungs. "YOU COULD HAVE TOLD US THAT BEFORE!" '_Oh, God! It's worse than I thought!_'

Shinji was one hundred percent behind his sister. "Fuah, guhah... Beurk! What a taste! I feel sick."

Misato gave a look to the young boy through the holographic communication screen. "Stand it! Your sister is here! You are a boy, aren't you?!"

The twins blinked to each other and Sakura raised an eyebrow to the NERV Captain. "I failed to see what our sexes have to do with the taste of your LCL!"

As the umbilical cord was plugged in the EVA, the command staff continued the operation.

"Connect to the main power supply."

"Transmit power to all circuits."

"Yes Sir."

Maya mentally crossed her fingers. "The second contact is beginning."

"I'll commence the second contact."

Maya smiled as everything was all right. "The connection of the A10-nerve is operational."

The Entry Plug initialized around the two pilots. Shinji and Sakura were impressed by the complexity of the prodigious war-machine.

Ritsuko also smiled. Up to now, everything is working. "Japanese has been fixed to the system as the fundamental rules for the operation of Eva. All initial contacts are all right."

Maya Ibuki was a little brunette and the main helper of Dr Akagi. She was the best for surveying the success of the process. "Connect the mutual lines. The dual rate of synchronization is 61.9."

In the Entry Plug, it's the first contact. Sakura squeezed hard her eyes to stop her tears. It was a warmth without any equal in the world that enveloped her. It was something that the masculine soul had felt when he embraced his mother and felt her love for him.

Now, she was sure. The soul of the mother of Shinji AND Sakura was inside the EVA. Burning anger from the core of her being threatened to boil over but she set her jaws and focus. _'I must be the mistress of my anger and not its slave.'_ She managed to calm herself and blinked under an unexpected event.

Something brushed against her mind. Could it be…? So early…? She hesitated. It was a risk but she knew that complete trust between the EVA and its pilot was paramount. She relaxed and let the curious feeling washing through her. There was the sensation of puzzlement and curiosity, then something sparked in her heart and she felt wonderful as if someone was lightly hugging her. '_Thank you…Mother._'

Ritsuko was overjoyed by the incredible rate of synchronization and in the first essay, no less. "Great!"

Maya smiled alongside her 'sempai'. "All values of the harmonics are normal. Everything is under control. No Berserker state."

Ritsuko turned to Misato. "It will go!"

Misato was transformed in a professional soldier as she directed the operation. "Ready for launching."

The EVA cage staff reacted with grace.

"Release the 1st lock bolt!"

"It has been released."

"Move the umbilical bridge!"

"Release the 2nd lock bolt!"

"Take off the 1st binding and then the 2nd binding."

Around the gigantic Mecha, the various elements of the cage were retracted or were moving away.

"Cancel the 1st through 15th safety locks."

"Internal battery has charged."

"Socket for external power supply is operational."

Maya nodded. "OK. Eva Unit One to the launching pad."

Now the mighty machine was ready for war. On his platform, the Evangelion is moved to the electromagnetic catapult and ready to be launched as vertical hatches opened up in succession.

Sakura turned to Shinji. "A launching pad? Brace yourself, brother. We're going to feel it."

Maya confirmed the status of the shaft. "The course is clear. All green."

Ritsuko turned to the tactical officer, her friend Misato. "It's ready for launching."

"OK." Misato turned to Gendo. "Do we have your authorization Sir?"

Gendo looked between his joints hands. "Of course! We have no future unless we beat Angels."

His second-in-command leaned to him. "Ikari, are you really satisfied with it?" The bearded man lightly smirked behind his hands.

Misato turned to the central screen. "EVA-01, launch!"

"HUNG!!" Shinji and Sakura were thrown back into her cockpit chair by the acceleration. EVA-01 was going to battle at the surface.

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The Angel Sachiel was walking in the city and stopped as he sensed a perturbation. A giant trap opened under the klaxons of warning and with an abrupt stop, the Evangelion unit appeared on the ground.

Aboard the fantastic unit, Sakura's eyes narrowed and Shinji's eyes widened as they considered their adversary.

Misato looked to the young children she had taken into this very situation. '_Shinji-Kun. Sakura-Chan. Come back alive._'

Inside the Entry Plug, the intense green eyes widened under an unexpected shock. Sakura was sensing something that she should not have sensed in this world. "Holy…shit!"

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Trailer:

EVA-01 defeats the angel. But it is only the beginning of everything as an incredible truth is revealed. Shinji and Sakura confront their father for the second time, but the young boy wants only to run away from him and the young girl wants only to destroy him. Misato's conceit makes her decide to relieve the young children, marked by their first battle. Next is 'Leviathan'. Of course, next time, service, service.

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Thank you for your reviews to Him0nky2012 and Rasputin the evil monk.


	3. Leviathan

**THE SONG OF A LOST ANGEL**

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the concept of the Guardians of Dimensions, 'Outerworld', Sakura, Iridia and Baran.

Notes: I am writing only the scenes where Shinji and/or Sakura appeared and also the scenes where others characters spoke about them or one of them.

**Chap 2: Leviathan.**

The two giants were facing each others.

One was Sachiel, Angel of Water and third angel send to the Earth-plane to continue the Trial of Man. Since the Second Impact, which marked the beginning of the Dead Sea Scrolls Prophecy, the Host of Heaven was dutifully following the Will of God.

The other was the Evangelion Unit One or EVA-01 piloted by Shinji and Sakura Ikari. The siblings were fraternal twins and have been forced into the giant war-machine by the manipulations of their father.

Or at least, that was the appearance. Sakura Ikari wasn't truly the twin sister of Shinji and the Fourth Children. In fact, she wasn't quite sure of what she was. She knew that her soul was the soul of an adult male named Baran that somehow found himself in the body of the fourteen years old girl. But 'her' memories were a blend of 'him' and 'her'. Worse, for 'him', he was in a dimension like an anime of 'his' world, an anime 'he' knew too well.

And they were facing an Angel.

The voice of Misato Katsuragi sounded inside the Entry Plug. "Are you ready, Shinji-kun, Sakura-Chan?"

Shinji actually gulped. "Ah, yes."

Sakura also gulped but not for the same reason. Already, the fact that she managed to end into the cockpit of EVA-01, appeared as a very BAD idea. At the edge of her mind and perhaps her soul, she was sensing…music. "As ready as we can."

Misato braced herself and did her duty. "Remove the final safety lock! Evangelion Unit One, lift off!"

The contraption holding the powerful Mecha unlocked and EVA-01 found herself free. Already, the two Ikari could feel the robot slightly lurching.

Sakura blinked. She could actually feel the movement through her own body and through the neural interface. She glanced to her twin and internally winced. The poor boy was too frightened to remark that on a conscious level. She put her hand on his to ease the tension.

Ritsuko Akagi leaned above the station of Maya Ibuki. "Shinji-kun, Sakura-Chan, think about only walking now."

Shinji let his breath escaped his lung. The warm hand of his sister on his right one had eased a little his apprehension. '_Walking ..._'

EVA-01 took a step, the intense vibration on the ground breaking the windows of a phone cabin.

Ritsuko smiled with pride: The machine she helped to build was working. "It 's walking!"

Shinji squared his shoulders. He wasn't sure but he could have sworn that he felt his sister helping him alongside to make the robot walking. "Walking ..."

This time, however, EVA-01's left foot hit the umbilical cable and fell forwards to the dismay of Sakura, who had been too distracted by the music that was growing in volume in her perception, to properly compensate. "Damn it!"

Fortunately, the LCL and the configuration of the Entry Plug worked perfectly to absorb the shock of the fall.

Misato began to panic as the enemy took advantage of the fall. "Shinji-kun, Sakura-Chan, come on! Hurry up, stand up as soon as possible!"

Sakura shook her head. "WE'RE DOING OUR BEST!" The two siblings gasped as they saw the angel looming above them. Sakura perceived a significant change in the music she sensed. "Oh, shit!"

Sachiel had approached the EVA. The Angel didn't think on the same level of reality as humanity. He had a duty and a goal. Everything else was an obstacle to be…eliminated or surmounted. He lifted up EVA-01 by the head and grasped EVA's left arm tightly. Sachiel then used one of his celestial powers to boost significantly the strength of his arms and pulled apart.

In an odd stereophony, the twins grabbed their own left arm and keened under the pain of the EVA transmitted through the direct neural interface. Sakura had tried to do something but her own terror in front of the angel and the surprising amount of pain she felt had incapacitated her like her brother.

Misato tried to help their charges. Damn it! Why Ritsuko didn't tell them before of the bio-feedback. "Shinji-kun, Sakura-Chan, keep your head. It isn't your arm."

Ritsuko turned to Maya. "How is EVA's protection system?"

The young woman shook her head. "The signal doesn't work." For a reason or another, the automatic responses programmed in the interface didn't work.

Makoto Hyuga winced at what he could read on his monitor. "Field has not been developed!"

Ritsuko paled. Without an AT-field, EVA-01 was defenceless: The armour couldn't endure such punishment for long. "It won't do?!"

As the doctor feared, the armour of the left arm and the left arm itself finally broke under the formidable pressure. The acute pain hit the two children and Sakura actually screamed. She was dimly aware of the voice of Maya. "The left arm has been damaged!" '_No, really? We didn't remark._' Her brain seemed fogged somehow.

Makoto's eyes widened as his situation panel became almost red. "The circuits have snapped."

Sachiel lifted his adversary by the head and the energy lance of his left arm began to shine.

Misato felt powerless. "Shinji-kun, Sakura-Chan, dodge it!"

The two children could only gaze at the charging-up weapon and screamed as they felt the bio-feedback of the attack directly on their right eye.

Maya winced. "The front area of the head is cracked!"

Ritsuko shook her head. If the angel could break the armour of the left arm, then… "The armouring won't stand any more."

The energy lance suddenly pierced through the helmet and the war-machine was projected and nailed to an adjacent building. The weapon retracted and a fountain of red blood flooded from the head wound. In the command room, all the situation monitors flashed the red "EMERGENCY".

Shigeru Aoba reported. "Head damaged! Damages unidentified!"

Maya was beginning to freak. "The nerves for control are snapping one after another."

Makoto gasped as his physiological monitor flat-lined on all the channels. "No response from both pilots!"

Misato screamed. "Shinji-kun! Sakura-Chan!"

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Shinji and Sakura opened simultaneously their eyes. Blue eyes and intense green eyes searched across the white standard hospital room. They both looked to each other and remark that they were in a bed made of two standards beds put together. Sakura was holding the right hand of his brother with her left hand. The notion of the physical contact and the fact that they were together made them relax and sighed in relief. They returned to stare at the ceiling.

Shinji was relieved to find his sister at his awakening. He didn't want to lose her again. He blinked as he gazed on the ceiling. "An unknown ceiling…"

Sakura nodded. "And a little depressive…" She shrugged. "They could have painted it in pale blue…"

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In a darkened and advanced-looking room, Keel Lorentz was finishing a session with four persons and Gendo Ikari. "That's all what it is."

A member illuminated in green turned to Gendo. "But, Ikari-kun, NERV and EVA…you can use them in better ways, can't you?"

A bespectacled member lighted in yellow smirked. "The costs of the repairs for Unit Zero and Unit One will be the ruin of a country. We are fortunate that Unit One was lightly damaged in the battle."

A member in red turned to Gendo. "I heard that you gave that toy to your two children. I wonder why you used the two at the same time."

The last member in blue nodded. "Human, Time and Money… How much will be spent by you, your son and your daughter for your satisfaction?"

The red member looked from a report marked 'Top secret, human complement project, top-level executive council, 17th interim report, human complement committee, project outlines for fiscal 2015, summary'. "Moreover, you have another job to do, don't you? Human Complement Project, this is what you must do at the top priority."

The yellow member's eyes narrowed. "That's right. That project is the only hope under such hopeless circumstances, for us."

Keel retook the control of the discussion. "Anyway, although the Angels came again, it can't be allowed that the project will be behind schedule. As for the budgets, we'll consider them."

The green member hit the switch that cut off his holographic image. "Well, the committee will take over now."

The yellow member nodded before he disappeared. "Ikari-kun, thanks."

Keel stayed a moment. "Ikari, you can't go back."

Gendo didn't move as he pondered upon the situation behind his crossed hands and his orange-tinted glasses. "I understand. The end for Humanity has come."

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Shinji and Sakura were watching silently the landscape through the widows outside their hospital room. The peculiar lighting of the Geo-Front was giving a strange aspect to the sight.

Sakura remembered that right now, the central committee for the human complement project should be in full session with the old bastard. She frowned. SEELE was a big problem. They regularly underestimated those they manipulated but they could bring a VERY big hammer to crush those troublesome.

She glanced to her brother and wondered why he stayed so silent. She blinked. Her 'masculine' soul was asking this question. 'Her' memory showed that the twins preferred this form of silent communication between them.

She looked down their hospital-issued pyjamas. "…Still, I wondered who undressed us."

Shinji blinked and blushed. Both of them didn't or wouldn't remember what happened during the… He shook his head to chase this thought.

"…And I wonder where they put our clothes and my katana." Shinji blinked again at that and turned, confused, to his twin.

Sakura smiled a little. "The sword is a legacy of the Ikari clan." She gazed at the landscape, loosed her smile and softly continued. "Our mother should have been the one to present it to us."

Shinji gasped. "Not father?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. He married into the clan. He has no right on the ancestral Daisho…" She smirked and her green eyes twinkled to her brother. "…and on our status as Samurai."

A sound interrupted the twins and they turned to see a bed being pushed by a medical team in the corridor. Sakura smiled as she saw Rei in a better shape on the bed. The unique crimson eye blinked as the three children examined each others during the brief passing.

The twins looked to the departing bed and eerily spoke at the same time. "I've seen her before." They blinked and stared to each other, once again speaking in unison. "You too?!"

The long black-haired girl remarked the chagrined face of her twin. "Hey, Shinji?" She grabbed his shoulder and smiled to him. "Relax. She's in better shape than before and you were instrumental in her continuous health."

The boy gazed into the intense green eyes then turned away, still feeling guilty for the suffering of the mysterious blue-haired girl.

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Misato and Ritsuko were going back to NERV in a truck.

The NERV Captain was glad to be in the interior of the vehicle. "I always think that an air conditioner is the greatest treasure of humanity! It's really a scientific success!"

Ritsuko smiled as she put down her phone. "Shinji-Kun and Sakura-Chan have recover consciousness."

That was good news. "How are they?"

"No external wounds apart from some bruises for Sakura. However, they both seemed somewhat confused in their memory."

Misato whirled to her friend, worried. "It cannot be… Is it a mental contamination?"

Ritsuko smiled at the tone. "I heard that you need not worry about it."

Misato looked nonplussed. "So… Quite so. Because suddenly that happened…"

Ritsuko nodded. "It's no wonder. A severe burden was imposed on their cranial nerves."

Misato smirked. "Mind you, it could be also affective."

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The two Ikari were waiting alone in an enormous waiting room. Shinji was examining his left arm, remembering vividly the intense pain and the sensation of the broken arm.

Sakura was frowning as she did the same. Contrary to her twin she had a circular bruise where the EVA had been wounded. Earlier, when she had taken a rapid shower before exiting their hospital room, she had found that she sported also a nice right black eye. She was almost sure that only Shinji had a very elevated rate of synchronisation. So why was she the one with the psychosomatic wounds?

She sighed. Depressing over it would only boost their level of angst. She turned to her twin. "Bored?"

Shinji jerked back in the reality. "Huh…? Hum… A little…?"

The medical staff had given them back their sacks and Sakura had on the spot verified the perfect state of her Katana. She brought up her portable computer. "A game of chess?"

Shinji nodded and the two siblings continued their silent bonding after their forced three years of separation.

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Misato smiled when she entered the waiting room. The two children were calmly playing a game on a portable computer and seemed lost to the exterior world. There was only the two of them. She approached the twins and Shinji blinked as his attention was drawn to the young woman.

Sakura turned and smiled to the dark purple-haired woman. "Just in time, Misato." She smiled mischievously to her brother. "I was about to be slaughtered in six moves."

Shinji reddened a little and scratched his head in embarrassment.

The trio went to an elevator and waited. The doors opened and revealed Gendo. Sakura's green eyes narrowed and Shinji's blue eyes widened under the dark black gaze of their father.

Sakura pressed her lips into a thin line and spat. "What? Not even a 'hello', 'how are you', 'thank you' or an apology? As you wish." Her knuckles whitened on her clothed and secured sheathed sword and in a move like a snake, she hit the 'Close Door' button, retracting her Katana before the doors closed. Shinji had turned away his head in contained anger and father and son had said nothing.

Sakura was trembling in barely restrained rage. She had almost drawn her Katana to cut off the head of the Supreme Bastard. She took a cleansing breath and blinked as she felt the hand of her brother taking hers. Shinji was still not looking to her or Misato.

Sakura turned to the grim-looking Misato. "Let's take another path, please." She frowned internally. '_Still, what the hell was he doing on our way? Poking at our misery or something else?_'

As they took an escalator, their movements were surveyed on monitors by Kouzou Fuyutsuki and Ritsuko.

The blonde doctor seemed worried. "Is it OK that they live together?"

Fuyutsuki shrugged. "For Ikari and his children, it's natural to be without each other."

Ritsuko nodded. "I see… You would have to force them…to live together…"

Later, the trio found themselves before a man as the floor showed a representation of the NERV headquarters.

Misato looked with dismay to the paper showing where the two children were lodged. For the whole residential section, they were… "Alone? In adjacent rooms?"

The man in charge nodded, holding the posture of THE one in charge. "Yes, their rooms are located in Block 6 over there." He turned to the two children. "Any problems?"

Shinji was biting his lower lip. "No."

Sakura snorted. "Yes! But I don't think you can do anything about it." She shrugged and turned to her brother. "Don't worry. We'll make OUR arrangements." '_It will be a cold day in hell when I left you alone!_'

Misato was still dismayed. "Are you satisfied with it, Shinji-kun, Sakura-Chan?"

The boy smiled to the young woman. "We prefer to be alone. Any places are the same." His sister nodded.

But the NERV Captain could read many things into the gaze of the two children. She took her decision and pulled them to a public phone under the bewildered stare of the man who thought he was in charge. She placed several calls, the last one to Ritsuko.

Ritsuko frowned at what her friend was telling her. "What?!"

Misato rolled up her eyes. "As I said now, I've decided to take charge of Shinji-kun and Sakura-Chan. I've got the superior's agreement." She smirked. "Don't worry. I won't have an affair with the boy...or the girl."

Ritsuko yelled into her phone. "That goes without saying! What the hell are you thinking about!?"

Misato winced as she promptly pulled up the phone from her ear. "As I expected. She could never understand a joke."

In the background, Sakura was softly giggling while her brother was slightly blushing.

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Misato's blue Renault Alpine, still battered but temporally repaired with duct-tape, drove through a tunnel.

The purple speed-demon of the road turned to her rear passengers. "Well, tonight we're going to do flamboyantly, aren't you?"

Shinji blinked, looking a little worried to their new legal guardian. "What are you saying about?"

Misato smiled. "Of course, it's a welcome party for my two new lodgers!"

Sakura looked relieved and smiled in return. "Aaaah. Thank you."

The trio stopped at one of the numerous convenience stores so common in Japan. The twins watched with dismay at the very interesting amount of instant foods selected by Misato. They looked to each other: It was the best example of the convenient but poor meals, not something very good at long term.

As they paid their groceries, they heard a very interesting conversation between two housewives.

"Are you also going to move?"

"I had never thought seriously that this city really became a battlefield."

"My husband told me that our children and I should move for safety at least."

"Move for safety… Even if this is the fortress city, we can't rely on anything at all."

"Yesterday incident, the mere recollection of it makes me shudder."

Shinji narrowed his eyes at hearing this. Once again he felt guilty. Sakura snorted and muttered under her breath something about 'stupid blinded civilians', 'no place was truly safe' and 'should be grateful they're still alive'.

Misato was worried by what she saw and heard from her charges. Fortunately, she had an idea to brighten their minds.

She drove her car along the road to the top of a hill dominating the city. "Well, we will drop in some place on the way."

Shinji looked up from the sack containing many cans of beer. "Where are we going?"

Misato giggled "It. Is. A. Good. Place."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What surprises have you prepared again?"

They finally arrived on an observation platform and gazed upon the city under the evening sun. The cicadas were omnipresent. The twins felt strangely moved by the view.

Shinji felt sad by what he was seeing. "Somewhat…this is a lonesome city, isn't it?" A little like him and his sister. He sensed the silent nodding of his twin.

Misato looked at her watch and smiled. "The time has come."

Under them, many alarms sounded in the city and powerful mechanisms were activated. The numerous buildings of the ceiling of the Geofront were slowly appearing

Shinji was awed. "Great! Buildings are growing!"

Sakura had known about this 'little' feature of Tokyo-3, but seeing it in real… "Wow…!"

Misato nodded to their tones: She had managed to lift up their spirits. "This is the Fortress City for Intercept the Angels: 'Tokyo-3'… Our hometown…" She turned to the children. "…and the town which you protected."

Sakura beamed. "I'm glad we did it."

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EYECATCHES

Sakura, clad in a kendoka outfit, is holding her Katana in a classic posture. With a fierce yell, she charges a training dummy and cut it in two with a diagonal slash. Shinji, kneeling in _seiza_, is applauding.

EYECATCHES

Gendo, in a Kendoka outfit, is looking with his patented Glare-of-Doom to a training dummy. He is also sporting a Katana. He charges silently and strikes in diagonal. His sword gets stuck in the dummy and he sweat-drops as he tries to pry the weapon from it. Shinji, who was sitting in _seiza_, is now rolling on the floor in laughter.

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The trio arrived to the building where Misato lived. It was an eleven floors rectangular block with a little playground for children outside. They were also the only residents of the entire residential building.

The NERV Captain smiled as they arrived to her apartment's door. "I think your things have arrived here."

She was right. Many boxes, printed with an international shipping logo, were neatly packed near the entrance. Sakura frowned. She never had much during her exile in England. Her pseudo-adoptive family and her boarding school must have sent everything they had of her. '_Very charming of them. Couldn't wait to get ride of me, huh?_'

The twins exchanged a lopsided smile. They roughly both had the same numbers of boxes.

Opening her door, Misato continued. "Really, I've also just moved to this town very recently." She waved to the two Ikari. "Come in."

Shinji and Sakura looked very vulnerable and once again spoke together. "Er-r-r-r… **Ojamashimasu**? (May I come in? Used when someone visit other's houses.)

Misato loose a little of her smile but pursued firmly. "Shinji-kun, Sakura-Chan, this is your house!"

Shinji and Sakura had difficulty to swallow and hesitantly crossed the entry, the ghost of a smile on their lips. "Ta…**Tadaima**." (I...I'm back. Used whenever someone comes home.)

Misato beamed. "**Okaerinasai**." (Welcome home! Used in answer to 'Tadaima' by the person at home.) She found it cute their way of speaking together.

A true smile blossomed on the face of the twins. They both could feel the genuine welcoming of the young woman in their new 'Home': Something that neither of them truly felt since an eternity.

They promptly lost their smile and two pairs of eyes widened when they saw the interior of the apartment. Sakura blinked. The 'former-male-turned-young-girl had the bad habit to not really clean 'his' studio but NOTHING could be compared to…THAT! Misato's apartment looked like the battlefield of World War III.

Misato's voice came from her bedroom. "Well, the room is a little untidy… Don't you mind that."

There were empty cans of beer, whisky bottles and potato chips on the dinning table. Half-opened boxes clustered the floor with clothes for the winter and car magazines occupied the rare pieces of the floor still available. A mountain of plastic garbage sacks decorated a corner of the kitchen.

The twins looked to each other. "…a little…" Even their thoughts were the same. '_She can't be serious? THAT! A LITTLE UNTIDY?!_'

Misato's head reappeared from the depths of her lair. "Please, put the foods in the refrigerator."

Shinji sweat-dropped. "Ah, yes."

His sister shook her head. "I can't even imagine what we are going to find in it."

Shinji was also apprehending what he could find in the big refrigerator. "Ice… Relishes… And only beers…" The young boy looked with dismay to the content. "What kind of life does she lead?"

Sakura palmed her face. "I also wonder how she can maintain her figure with such a diet." Her brother looked to the other refrigerator and she nodded. "I almost feared what we are going to find in this one." '_Oh yes! The fridge for the penguin._' She frowned internally. '_I wonder what it is in this altered reality._'

Shinji voiced louder his question to Misato. "Well, can we use the refrigerator over there…?"

Misato was changing her clothes. "Ah, it's OK. Perhaps, he is sleeping now."

Shinji and Sakura blinked to each other. "Sleeping…?"

Very soon, the microwave oven was used to prepare the instant foods and the trio found themselves ready to eat at the newly cleaned dinning table.

Still cheerful, Misato raised her can of beer. "**Itadakimasu**!" (Literally 'let's eat'.)

Sakura had found, by miracle, some soft drinks in the back of the fridge and the twins returned the salute. "Itadakimasu."

Misato was clad in a t-shirt and blue-jeans short. She was also…without a bra. She then proceeded to demonstrated how to gulp an entire beer can of Yebisu. "Phaaaaaah Kwaaaaaah!! Oh my dear life, I just live for such a time!" She blinked to the siblings who were mesmerized by her demonstration. "Ah, don't you eat them? They are rather tasty, although they are instant foods."

Shinji smiled a little. "No, but…I'm not used to such a meal."

Sakura poked at her food. "Yes… It's been a long time since we ate together."

Misato brought down hard her can and leaned with fierce eyes into the twins. "No! Don't be fussy, you two!"

Shinji and Sakura retreated down into their seats. The young woman was also offering them a good view of her cleavage. "Ah… no… ah, I didn't mean that."

Sakura was sweating. Her healthy 'adult male' soul was still sensible to such a display. "Yes… We really appreciate this."

Misato changed suddenly from wrathful to mirthful. "Don't you think it's nice?" The twins blinked. "Having a meal with others."

By reflexes, Sakura took Shinji's hand and the twins smiled to the young woman. "Ah…yes."

As they finished the dinner, Misato brought up the next subject. "All right. Next, we'll decide on the Everyday Duties." She smirked. "We'll use the fair method of **Janken** (Game of 'paper, stone and scissors'.)."

Sakura crossed her arms. "Hu hu! Not that method! No way!"

Shinji blinked. "Why not?"

Misato nodded. "Yeah! Why not? Come on! It'll be fair and fun!"

The green-eyed girl empathically shook her head. "Absolutely not!" She turned to the young boy and the young woman. "Look! It's been three years since I have one of the delicious dinners of my brother. I'm not chancing that." She looked to her twin. "What do you say? We come back to our routine for breakfasts and dinners and we share equally the other duties?" '_Like this, we will not end poisoned by her cooking._'

Shinji scratched his head and looked to the repartition of the Everyday Duties. It was true that it's been a while since he didn't eat one of her famous breakfasts. But… "What do you say, Misato?" '_Beside, I'm sure that we will have to do the biggest part of her work._'

Misato pouted, but after looking at the paper, she found it with very few appearance of her name. "Aaah! You are no fun, you two." She shrugged. "Oh, all right. You win." '_Well, I just have to do a few garbage and bath cleaning duties._'

The twins nodded and smiled. "Yes." Sakura internally sighed in relief. _'Phew! Dodge the bullet.'_

Misato cheerfully continued. "Well. Because this is your house from today, you can really make yourself at home here."

Shinji had a lopsided smile. "A, a, yes."

Sakura bowed. "Thank you, Miss Katsuragi." '_A home… A real home._'

Misato groaned and slapped her beer can on the table. "Hey! I said to call me Misato! And yes, yes, yes, yes… What a gloomy!" She reached for them and began to mess their hair. "You are teenagers, aren't you? Pull yourself together!"

The twins tried to escape the torture and once again spoke together. "Ah…yes." Sakura then giggled as they had used once again the word 'yes'.

Misato chuckled and smiled to the snickering girl and the sulking boy. "It's OK. Take a bath and wash all the unpleasant things away.

Shinji turned to his sister. "You first, of course."

Sakura smiled. "Thank you, brother."

The young girl gained the bathroom and began to shed her clothes. It was a difficult task because she was reddening like a tomato. The 'male' soul had great difficulty to accept what 'she' was seeing…and feeling. '_Oh, great! I turned into a pervert!_' She sighed and palmed her face. '_I'm aroused by my own body._' She grumbled about 'unfairness', 'wish I was in Ranma world' and 'how the hell I will deal with my first period'.

She glanced up to the drying frilly feminine underwears of Misato and smirked at the future embarrassment of her brother. She also felt uneasy. '_Strange. I feel I forget something._'

She opened the door of the furo to a penguin with red hair and a portable heating unit. She blinked… It blinked… '_Oh. Right. I have forgotten the penguin._'

The waterfowl shook himself of its excess water and warked to her with almost sentience eyes. A nervous twist manifested on the left eye of the young girl. She cocked her head. "Hello. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're male, right?" She gently but firmly grabbed the penguin by the back of its portable heater unit and came back naked to the living room.

Shinji gasped and closed quickly his eyes when his sister came back completely nude with a… He blinked as he reopened his eyes and stared for a second. No, he wasn't dreaming: She held a penguin in her hand. He blushed like a tomato and closed his eyes again when he remarked that he was still looking at her.

Sakura spoke to her new guardian with an almost serene voice. "Misato?"

Misato blinked to the spectacle. "What's wrong?"

The young girl showed the bird she was holding. "What. Is. That?"

Misato grinned. "Oh, he? A new race: A hot water penguin. His name is Penpen. He is another lodger."

Sakura blinked. "Ah." She turned to the waterfowl. "Sorry, guy. But I thought, for one moment, that you were leering at me." She lowered him on the floor and he scampered to his fridge. "No offence, I hope?"

Penpen answered with a single wark that could be interpreted in any ways and entered his personal unit.

Misato grabbed her beer can. "By the way…you'd better cover up the front. Your brother is having quite the eyeful."

Sakura blinked and looked to Shinji who was still holding his hands over his eyes and was spluttering. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, give me a break, Shinji! We used to bathe together until three years ago." She smirked to Misato. "Or perhaps, our dear captain is just jealous of my youthful and lush body…?"

She laughed and dodged back in the bathroom before Misato hit her with the toothpick jar. '_The little minx!_' "Oh, well, I was a little…too much, perhaps…" '_Or maybe, she was reading me…_'

Back in the furo, Sakura was having her nervous breakdown. She had managed to hold it back until now, but being alone and with the utter proof of her transformation had been too much. She was using a towel and the water of the bath to silence her deep sobs. She was in the world of Evangelion. 'He' had been transformed by an unknown force or entity from an adult French male into an Asian female teenager. She was the fraternal twin of Shinji Ikari. 'He' had been 'cursed' with the memories of the body 'he' currently inhabited and 'she' wasn't even sure of what and who she was. But the worst thing was that she KNEW what was supposed to happen in the near future.

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Later, Shinji took his bath after his sister. He had sensed something wrong with her when she called him, but his questions had been answered by a very small and sad smile and she had said not yet.

The young boy was also feeling the aftershock of everything that happened so far. He had found his long-lost sister after believing her dead for three years. He had seen the ultimate proof that he was nothing than a replaceable tool for his father. He had been forced to fight against something called an Angel aboard a giant robot with his sister. And now, he had been invited into the home of someone that could… 'Misato Katsuragi… She isn't a bad person.'

He remembered her saying. '"_Take a bath and wash all the unpleasant things away._"'

His blue eyes narrowed. '_But for some, the bath may bring to mind more unpleasant things._' Images flashed in his memory with two peoples highlighted. '_Father…_' "And Rei Ayanami…"

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At NERV headquarters, in a vast armoured room, an orange EVA was encased in bakelite with a Stop Signal Plug. The room had been almost entirely destroyed, probably by the EVA-00. In the damaged observation chamber, Ritsuko and Gendo were discussing.

The doctor was looking to the back of the bearded man. "How was Rei? This afternoon, did you go…to the hospital?"

Gendo didn't move, his hands in his pockets. "In 20 days, she will be able to move. I'll get the committee's agreement for making the frozen Unit Zero restart until then."

Ritsuko sighed. "What a pain…they have…"

Gendo shrugged. "There are no other people who can move EVA. As long as they live, I let them do that."

The gaze of the blonde woman darkened. "Whatever the children think…"

Gendo interrupted her. "What is your final analysis for the Third and Fourth Children."

Ritsuko looked into her papers. "The tandem piloting and the dual synchronisation hold great promises so far: Better ratio, better tolerance of harmonics and curiously better bio-feedback. We still have to test Shinji and Sakura separately, but the MAGI system has been able to extrapolate a few things."

Gendo turned a little to her. "No problems with that?"

Ritsuko shook her head. "None so far. Due to the physiological differences between male and female, Shinji should have a better rate of synchronisation and more raw power. Sakura should have a much lower rate of synchronisation, but a higher bio-feedback and a finer control. We have also…"

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In a room marked 'Shin-Chan and Sa-Chan', the two fraternal twins were trying to have rest. The two Ikari had taken a room for themselves without even needing to consult the other. Shinji had helped her sister to transfer a bed in their room and they had cleaned and tidied the chamber.

Shinji was listening to his SDAT player and Sakura was using her MP3 and looking to a paper she had 'borrowed' in the kitchen. It was a notification of transfer for her and her brother to the Tokyo-3 junior high school. She had nothing against it, but as she had shown to Shinji, the actual date of the request predated their arrival to Tokyo-3 by a whole week.

Misato was taking a bath and was talking with Ritsuko with her cell-phone. "Yes. They had such a bitter experience. I'm afraid that they will not want to pilot again."

Ritsuko actually smirked. "Well, maintenance of them is your job, isn't it?"

The young woman smiled. "I'm afraid. I don't know how to get along with them."

Ritsuko chuckled. "Complaints yet? You declared theatrically that you would take charge of them, didn't you?"

Misato yelled before cutting the call. "Shut up!"

Misato sighed as she considered her own actions with the twins. '_Then I regarded them as my tools. I'm as the same as Ritsuko. Although we defeated the Angel…_' She looked up. "I don't feel happy."

Shinji was looking to his ceiling. '_This is an unknown ceiling, too. It's natural…because I don't know any places in this city._' He snorted and smirked a little. '_Sakura is right. A little touch of pale blue would be better._'

He remembered Misato telling them. '"_This is your house._"'

Shinji was feeling confused. '_Why am I here?_' He felt another touch of his loneliness and turned to the bed of his sister. He blinked.

Sakura was gazing to Shinji. The young boy stared to her right eye which still showed a bruise. In the darkness of their room, the intense green eyes were almost glowing like those of a cat.

The two children were progressively remembering their ordeal in a strange simultaneous way.

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Sachiel nailed EVA-01 through the right eye with his energy lance. The human creation was projected back against a building. The weapon of the Angel of Water retracted and a red liquid like blood spouted out from the head wound. The EVA slumped down, defeated.

The main screen was flashing red with the emergency situation.

Shigeru grimly reported. "Head damaged! Damages unidentified!"

Maya was almost freaking. "Troubles with the mental activity!"

Misato whirled to her. "How is the situation?!"

Maya shook her head. "Synchrograph has reversed. Pulses are flowing backward!"

Ritsuko tried something. "Cut the circuits! Stop them!"

Maya was frustrated. "No way. The signal is refused. It can't be received!"

Misato gulped and leaned to Makoto. "How are Shinji-Kun and Sakura-Chan?"

Makoto paled. "No responses from the monitoring system. I can't say if they're still alive or dead!"

Shigeru had a completely red board on his situation monitor. "Unit One is totally silent."

Ritsuko whirled to her friend. "Misato!"

Misato snarled. "So much for this time." She barked her orders. "Stop the operation! The pilots' protection is the top priority. Eject the Plug by force!"

Maya slapped her keyboard in frustration. "Impossible. It is totally out of control."

Misato's brown eyes widened in dismay. "What!"

Inside the darkened Entry Plug, the left hand of the girl grabbed the right hand of the boy and her own right hand grabbed the right butterfly handle. A right blue eye and a right green eye seemed to shine for an instant as a deep snarl escaped two throats.

The left eye of the EVA suddenly flashed with power. The protective armour of the jaw broke as EVA-01 opened her mouth in the same snarl as her pilots.

The main speaker of the control room sounded with an incredulous female voice. "EVA restarted!"

Maya turned to the main screen. "Impossible! It can't move!"

Misato looked with awe and fear. "It can't be…"

Ritsuko felt the same. "…Berserker."

Like a wounded and furious Titan, EVA-01 roared to the heaven. She flexed her legs and jumped directly onto the third Angel. She seized Sachiel by his head and tried to rip it off. The Angel reacted and grabbed the EVA. Using again her legs, EVA-01 jumped back, breaking the grappling hold. Still in the air, she whirled around and land on three limbs like a giant feline. She faced Sachiel with a snarl.

On the command level of the control room, Fuyutsuki nodded. "We'll win."

Still roaring in fury, EVA-01 charged her enemy who stood up. Inside the Entry Plug, a green eye blinked. The EVA broke her attack to stop abruptly before the Angel. She kicked a truck parked near her foot on Sachiel. A giant hexagonal orange and shield-like manifestation appeared and the truck exploded on contact.

Ritsuko was dismayed as the enemy used its greatest power. "An AT-field!"

Misato tightened her fists. "That won't do! As long as the Angel has an AT-field…"

Ritsuko grimly nodded. "The EVA can't touch the Angel."

Inside the Plug, a blue eye and a green eye focused on their left arms. EVA-01 brought her left arm in front of her and a violet energy field manifested, healing the arm and restoring its armour instantly.

Shigeru shook his head, incredulous. "The left arm has been restored."

Misato could only look at the miracle. "Incredible…"

EVA-01 threw her hands into the centre of the hexagonal manifestation as if she was trying to force open a double-door. A blue eye and a green eye narrowed in concentration.

Maya was using all the available external sensors since they no longer received anything from the EVA. "Unit One is also expanding an AT-field. It is countering the phase space."

Ritsuko looked to the graph. "No, it's neutralizing it."

In a final effort, EVA-01 shredded the AT-field of the enemy like paper.

Misato stared at the battle. "Destroying that AT-field so easily ...

Inside the Plug, a green eye widened as the girl perceived a change in the strange music she could sense from the Angel of Water. EVA-01 crossed her arms and focused her own AT-field. Sachiel fired with the particle beam from his eyes. The cross-like explosion was deflected harmlessly into the air by the orange hexagonal shield of the EVA.

Enraged, EVA-01 caught both the arms of the Angel with her left hand and delivered a vicious right cross to his head, damaging the particle emitters. She, then, twisted his wrists until they broke, shedding blue blood-like liquid. Holding up the bloodied stumps, EVA delivered a powerful kick and sent the Angel into a building. Inside the Plug, a green eye blinked as the girl seemed to remark the buildings around the EVA.

EVA-01 jumped high again and landed on Sachiel, almost burying him into the ground. She punched the protective bones around the red crystalline ball known as the 'Koa'. With a roar, EVA pulled the bones apart, rupturing completely what served as the chest for Sachiel. A green eye turned to the left hand of the boy who pressed a trigger.

Shigeru blinked. "Progressive Knife engaged!"

Misato's eyes widened. She never told the children about the weapons systems of the EVA. "How?!"

The left shoulder-binder of the EVA opened, revealing a bowie-like knife. EVA-01 took the knife with her right hand and struck the red ball which broke apart.

Finally understanding what he had sensed in the Celestial Symphony of the Abomination fighting against him, Sachiel played his last card as his core ruptured. He suddenly hugged the EVA's head and changed his shape into a ball. He had a duty and a goal. His own Celestial Symphony, which represented him in the creation, shifted. The will of God will be done.

Misato almost screamed as she understood the manoeuvre of the enemy. "Is it going to blow itself up?"

Sachiel had put his ruptured core against the head of the EVA and released his hold on the material plane. The Koa reached critical mass and exploded. Inside the Plug, a blue eye and a green eye closed in concentration. The cross-like explosion annihilated a full block of Tokyo-3.

Misato gasped. "How is EVA…?"

EVA calmly walked out from the infernal crater resulting from the explosion, her left eye still blazing with barely restrained power. The entire crew of the control room gasped in fear as EVA-01 appeared without any damage apart from the head wound.

Ritsuko stared at the…monster. "That is EVA's…"

Misato was still paralyzed. "…true appearance…"

Gendo Ikari smirked behind his crossed hands. Everything was proceeding as he had planned.

Once out of the zone of the explosion, EVA-01 stopped and waited like a fighter ready to take on any other adversaries, her left eye striking fear into the heart of those looking at it.

Shigeru sighed in relief as his control board flashed orange then green. "The circuits have been connected."

Shinji and Sakura appeared in the Entry Plug as the normal lights switched on, looking completely bewildered. They were still holding hands and Sakura was still clutching the right butterfly handle of the main seat.

Maya also sighed in relief as the internal sensors of the EVA were reconnected to the control room. "The system has been recovered. The graph is in the normal position."

Makoto nodded. "The survival of the two pilots has been confirmed."

Ritsuko turned to an operator. "Body Recovery Group, hurry up!"

Misato nodded. "Pilots' protection is still the top priority."

Shinji and Sakura had been deeply shocked by their experiences aboard the Berserker Unit. Shinji was thinking nothing because he couldn't afford to think about the ordeal. His psyche couldn't handle it for now.

Sakura was paralyzed by a terror without name. The 'male' soul was almost gibbering under the stranglehold of 'his' fear. The very nature of the Berserker state of Unit One was a hot subject among the population of the Evangelion's fans. During the battle, 'he' had been subjected to something 'he' didn't dare to name. It was 'she' who gathered the courage and the willpower: Shinji was her brother.

The internal screens of the Entry Plug reconnected just in time for the damaged armoured helmet of the EVA to fall on the ground.

The sound of the falling piece of armour brought back to reality the twins. They both turned to their right screen and stares to the true face of the EVA.

Instead of mechanisms and electronics, they discovered an organic bulbous head made of a brown flesh. Some wires implied the cybernetic nature of the EVA.

Sakura swallowed something extremely thick. She must say it. "It's…a living organism…"

Shinji gasped as the whispered words of his sister managed to connect all the points in his mind. She was right! It was no machine!

Before their fearful eyes, the ruined right eye of EVA-01 suddenly regenerated. The children blinked as a giant intense green eye stared to them. Sakura's eyes widened as she suddenly remarked the amazing similitude of this eye with her…own…

The iris of EVA-01 widened and revealed three secondary irises disposed in a triangle around the main one. Shinji and Sakura blinked at the same time as the EVA and screamed in terror.

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The two Ikari found themselves back into their bedroom and still staring into the eyes of the other. They mutually turned away and gazed to the opposite wall.

Misato achieved to dry her hair after her bath. She turned to the door of the chamber of her lodgers. She had something important to do.

The voice of Misato reached to the two numb children. "Shinji-kun, Sakura-Chan, may I open the door?" They couldn't respond: Their minds were circling on what happened during the battle. "I must tell both of you something." Misato looked to the two twins who were back to back in their respective beds. "You both did a praiseworthy thing. You both may keep your head high. Good night, Shinji-kun, Sakura-Chan." She finished as she closed the door. "Courage."

Sakura managed to close her eyes. The emotional and physical fatigue accumulated since the battle was finally catching to her. "Good night, brother. Love you."

At those soft words, something broke into Shinji who closed his eyes and let sleep taking over. "Good night, sister." He hesitated. "Love you too."

Despite her fatigue, sleep still eluded the long black-haired girl. She let her music soothing her frayed nerves. Two names were whirling inside her head. One, 'she' had head during the battle. The other, 'he' had discovered during the battle. She reopened her eyes and softly whispered them. "Sachiel… Leviathan…"

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Preview:

Shinji and Sakura, who have started a new life apparently obediently to the situations, cannot make new friends. But that they are pilots of EVA make them popular. The next is 'The Flaming Sword'. Next time, of course, I'll give you a good service!

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Notes: Hope you found this chapter as mysterious as the original episode. I feel rather proud of my new character.

The concept of the Celestial Symphony came from the RPG "In nomine Satani" and has been exploited in the fan-fiction "Neon Exodus Evangelion". I have, of course, heavily modified it.

I have taken care not to make Sakura a powerful character. She is full of psychological problems and many more. Her main advantage and weakness is, of course, her knowledge of the anime. This has been explored rather heavily by many authors, so I will not concentrate on it.

It's the little details outside that will make her an angst and dramatic character, ideal for Evangelion.

Read and review, please. Thank you.


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